24 May 2012

SURVEY: 43% of Black Gay Youth Have Attempted/Considered Suicide

A stunning 43 percent of Black gay youth have considered or attempted suicide as a result of issues related to their sexual orientation. Those are the preliminary findings of the first of three to surveys to be released this year by Youth Pride Services, a Chicago-based non-profit that works with at-risk Black LGBT youth.

Black gay youth under the age of 25 are encouraged to take the survey HERE.

Other stats: 26 percent experienced anti-gay bullying. 8 percent have been homeless. 9 percent have been sexually abused. 10 percent have been physically abused. YPS Director Frank Walker said that many of the results are not surprising, reports Windy City Times.

It really does show what it is like to grow up Black and gay in the U.S.," said Walker. Walker wants parents who have struggled to accept their LGBTQ children to see the report. "If they could take a look at their own child and look at all the issues that this survey reveals and put their own child in their minds… I think it would allow some Black parents to look at it from a different angle."

Walker said that Illinois youth also prioritized family acceptance, but second on the list, he said was "race related issues." Nationally, youth prioritized race issues at number eight, suggesting that youth in Illinois might be struggling with racism more than their peers in other parts of the country.

Boykin adds: "Although some assume that suicide is not a major problem in the black community, a study published in April 2008 found that young black men aged 13 to 24 were more likely to commit suicide than their white counterparts. Unfortunately, recent news events have confirmed that suicide does affect the black community.